Elon Musk‘s cult-like fanbase is defying every law of capitalism. Not only can Tesla (TSLA) always find a loyal customer base no matter how bearish Wall Street turns against it, some of Tesla owners are so attached to the company that they are offering free labor at Tesla shops on weekends when business gets too busy.
This month, as Tesla approaches the end of its second fiscal quarter of 2019—a crucial period seen by many investors as a make-or-break point for the electric carmaker—a group of Tesla owners across the world are volunteering to help the company hit its quarterly delivery goal, reported Teslarati, a news site specializing in covering Musk-owned companies.
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In Beijing, for example, a Model 3 owner showed up at a local Tesla delivery center on a recent Saturday to help familiarize customers with Tesla cars.
And he’s not alone. “It is becoming more of a phenomenon that existing Tesla owners help educate new owners by means of social media, Tesla delivery centers and owners meetup events,” a California-based Tesla fan tweeted earlier this month.
Stateside, members of the “Tesla Owners Silicon Valley” group visited three Tesla locations last Friday to deliver over 100 donuts—in Tesla’s signature front-loading trunks, or “frunks”—for Tesla employees.
🇨🇳 Model 3 owner 哲伦 take Saturday off to volunteer at #Beijing @Tesla Delivery Center. It is becoming more of a phenomenon that existing Tesla owners help educate new owners by means of social media, Tesla delivery centers, and owners meetup events. @elonmusk @ResidentSponge pic.twitter.com/nnAgHz5j2N
— Ray (@ray4tesla) June 15, 2019
Best place to put your donuts is in the Frunk @tesla pic.twitter.com/D7Gw8lJ7vF
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) June 21, 2019
While these enthusiastic Tesla owners are not directly involved in Tesla’s production or delivery processes, they have proved in the past that their help can indeed make a difference.
Last September, toward the end of Tesla’s third fiscal quarter of 2018, Ryan McCaffrey, a San Francisco-based Tesla owner who also hosts a Tesla-themed weekly podcast called Ride the Lightning, tagged Musk on Twitter and offered to help with quarter-end deliveries. “A lot of Tesla owners, including myself, would be delighted to volunteer, for free, to help with deliveries in times like this,” he wrote. “We can’t do their paperwork, but we can do orientations. It’s fun to educate new owners and see their joy and enthusiasm!”
Wow, thanks for offering to help! The coming week is incredibly intense. If any current Tesla owners who’d like to help educate new owners could head to Tesla delivery centers during midday on Sat/Sun & morning/evening on weekdays, that would be super appreciated!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 22, 2018
Then, in a Twitter reply, Musk directed interested volunteers to go to Tesla delivery centers on weekends or weekday evenings to educate new customers.
In Denver, Colo., about 30 volunteers provided more than 40 hours of labor at Tesla delivery centers as of September 30, including delivering a Model 3 to Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, tweeted Sean Mitchell, a Denver-based Tesla fan.
That quarter, Tesla delivered a record 83,500 vehicles, including 55,840 newly introduced Model 3 cars. Revenue and profits both beat Wall Street estimates. It was also Tesla’s first profitable quarter since its founding in 2003.
Tesla’s fiscal Q2 of 2019 ends on June 30. The company is expected to report earnings on July 31.
